Emotionally, leaving the Merkaz Klitah was very easy.
We were quite eager to leave there because of the cramped conditions
and because we rarely got a minyan. Sometimes it felt like we were
in boarding school, with so many rules and regulations. Although,
we did make some friends there and we do have fond memories of being
there (like the one Shabbos we were there we managed to host visitors
- despite the fact that we didn’t have a fleishig oven, crockery,
cutlery, cups or enough chairs!).
Practically speaking, it was more difficult than I imagined to leave.
We couldn’t exactly get the kids out of the way while we cleaned
up and sorted things out - there were really only two useable rooms.
So we were all on top of each other for two days or so as we were
trying to organise things. We ended up not doing as much as we wanted
to during the day and then working late into the night. It is amazing
how much stuff one accumulates in a short space of time. We arrived
in Israel with 9 suitcases, 5 pieces of hand luggage and a box. When
we moved from the Merkaz Klitah only two months later, we managed
to acquire a third of a truck’s worth of stuff! Okay, so it
isn’t that much more than what we came with, but it certainly
felt like it. We had A LOT of kids’ artwork to sort through
- lucky for us they love to draw as it kept them well occupied, but
they produced mountains of pictures and stuff. Bli Neder we will send
some to you.
We left the Merkaz Klitah at about 10.30am. I went with Shimi in the
truck with the removalist guy and Leah took Zvi and Racheli on the
bus to organise some furniture and meet us in RBS.
Itzik, the removalist, provides the removal facilities to the Merkaz
Klitah for a low price (the Jewish Agency pays for it). But he doesn’t
shlep the stuff for you (or with you) unless you pay him extra. I
opted for the cheaper option so I, with the help of a nice fellow
oleh (from Mexico City), shlepped the stuff from the second floor
to the car park. I took Shimi in the truck with me and Itzik drove
us to RBS where I shlepped the stuff off the truck. Don’t get
me wrong, Itzik is a lovely fellow, in fact, he is really nice. We
spoke the whole way about the Israeli army and the Yom Kippur War.
He was a soldier in the front lines of the war. He was one of the
first to arrive at the front and said that it took 8 hours for reinforcements
to be organised. The reason, he said, was simple. Everybody knows
that on Yom Kippur almost every Jew is in Shule and there is only
a skeleton-crew of soldiers on duty. However, what the Arabs knew
that should have been confidential, was the following. Between 67
and 73 there was a lot of cross-border activity. Soldiers on both
sides were being killed daily and it was a terrible time. So the Israeli
Army instituted a three-month rotation of soldiers to guard against
battle fatigue. So it just so happened that the rotation of soldiers
was occurring during the week of Yom Kippur of 73. The Arabs knew
that there would be a balagan - confusion among the ranks for a short
time - regarding who was in charge and who was on duty. This, coupled
with the number of soldiers on leave for Yom Kippur, made it a “perfect”
opportunity to attack.
In any case, Itzik told me that he was in battle for 8 hours and somehow
managed to survive without reinforcements. He told me how horrific
it was and that he prays everyday that his kids won’t have to
know what war is like. Itzik spoke to me about the famous Egyptian
Third Army. Apparently there were three divisions of the Egyptian
Army back then - the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Armies. The first Egyptian Army
was relatively small and mainly consisted of border guards and patrols,
nothing exciting. The 2nd and 3rd Armies were the main ones involved
in the war. During the course of the war, the Israelis managed to
completely encircle the entire Egyptian 3rd Army. Can you imagine,
a third of the Egyptian Army?! So the Israelis had a number of options.
They could have carpet bombed them and killed them all quickly or
they could have maintained their ring around them and starved them
out - let them die of thirst. But they decided to take a third option.
They called the UN and allowed them to supply the surrounded Egyptians
with food and water (all transports were thoroughly checked for weapons,
of course) and the Israelis merely stood their ground, not letting
them out. Keep in mind that if the situation was reversed, I’d
hate to say what the Egyptians would have done. So when Saddat heard
of this, he knew that peace would be possible with the Israelis, and
so it was.
Itzik talked the whole way and Shimi sat there enjoying a ride in
the truck. It was very pleasant. Arriving in RBS, I unloaded the truck
(by now Itzik and I were mates so he didn’t mind helping me
a bit!) and Shimi and I brought all the suitcases and things upstairs
(B”H for the elevator!) When everything was upstairs, I finally
realised how empty the place still looked. I mean, we have “rooms”
for things now, not just “the” room!
Our apartment is very big. Bigger than our Inkerman Rd flat. The fact
that there are no carpets is good for Racheli as she whizzes around
with ease. We now have a rug in the front room, but it doesn’t
hamper her much at all. Leah and I have an ensuite and there is even
a sink in the corridor for washing Netilas Yadayim. The kitchen is
big, but few cupboards (and no oven yet - next week, they say), the
balcony is smallish, but good enough for us (and we can put a sukkah
there, too), the kids all share a room, there is a spare room for
toys and games and there is also a half room which we use for storage.
We just found out that we also have a storeroom downstairs as well.
There is a laundry just off the bathroom (and the kids love to have
a bath now instead of a sponge bath out of a bucket in the shower!)
There is a great breeze from one end of the apartment to the other
and it is surprisingly cool during the day, even without the fan and
cooler on. The kitchen gets a bit hot, though.
The previous tenants didn’t leave the place in very good condition
at all. The walls are very scratched and dirty and we found things
that should have been thrown out long ago. But we will take pictures
and send them to the landlord, to be safe. We did speak about this
a little bit with them before signing the contract, although we only
saw the place at night, so we didn’t realise how bad it was.
Never-the-less, it is great to have room and be in our own place,
at last! We have some very nice neighbours who have already helped
us out a lot. The downstairs neighbours on the ground floor stored
our perishables in their fridge overnight for us, and the upstairs
neighbours held the key to the apartment for us so we could get in
when we arrived. Not to be outdone, the neighbours directly below
us came by with a plate of cake!
I have already made friends in the shule close by. Actually, there
are several shules in the area, but I have davened at the “Gra”
shule a few times (even when I was here last). The Gra shule is an
American shule and the Rabbi is apparently a Talmid Chochom. All shiurim
and shule events are in English (the davening is in Hebrew!) I have
had offers for help in looking for a job as well as offers for help
in looking for help to find a job! One guy introduced me to the Gabbai
by saying, “Hey, did you hear? There’s a new Jew in town!”.
The Gra is literally a hop and skip from home (no need for the “jump”!)
It is closer than from 56 Orrong Crescent to Caulfield Shule (I could
sleep in “that much” longer!). There is another shule
about the same distance away, another slightly further away and another
about 10 or 15 minutes walk. I’m sure that there are more shteibelach
around, I just haven’t found them yet.
I am resuming this letter after my first chavrusa (one-on-one learning)
with Rabbi Chaim Eliezra. He is the kiruv Rabbi who comes to the Merkaz
Klitah to speak with the French olim. So I asked him if we could learn
Gemara Brachot. He is very learned and learns Gemorah very well. He
really doesn’t mind if I ask him to repeat things or to explain
something again a different way. The shiur is totally in Hebrew so
I am “killing two birds with one stone” - learning Torah
and improving my Hebrew simultaneously. This is very good for me on
both accounts.
I am going to close now, so goodbye and keep in touch.